7 Things Marketers Must Know Before Investing in Digital Signage

Digital signage is a great way to improve visitor experience at an event and offer exhibitors the chance to showcase their stuff in an eye-catching way (and, as a marketer, those are two of the most important things, right?). But, before you get stuck into it, there are a few things you need to know before you invest.

Let’s take a look at what you need to consider.

1. The Visitor Journey and the Visitor Experience Goals

Before you start thinking about implementing digital signage at an event, you need to know the goals and objectives of your visitors, including what a successful event looks like for them.

There are four key steps in identifying what your visitors want and need, and using digital signage to provide a solution to any key problems:

Step one: figure out what types of visitor you’ll have at your event and what their experience goals are – i.e. what do they want to get out of the event?

Step two: think about the most common issues visitors face to identify where you can provide solutions

2. The Floor Plan and Locations for Power Sockets

This is an easily overlooked point but it’s incredibly important when choosing the locations for your digital signs. You have to consider health and safety regulations (meaning you can’t put a sign inside narrow aisles) and determine where the power sockets are located.

Look over the floor plan with the Operations Manager and discuss available options to see what you have to work with.

3. Exhibitor Sponsorship Preferences at the Show

There’s a high chance you’ll be offering sponsorship options to your exhibitors, so you’ll need to think about, first of all, whether your exhibitors will even be interested in advertising and, secondly, what kind of options you want to give them.

Think about how much you’ll need to cover costs – will your sales team be able to sell digital adverts to 5-10 exhibitors to cover the cost of the signage system?

4. Deadlines

Although digital signage can be incredibly flexible when it comes to deadlines, it’s worth thinking about when you’ll need all the content for it so you can set it up in advance. This will help you avoid any major headaches on the day of the event.

The great thing about digital signage, though, is that it can be amended on-the-fly during the event so visitors will always see the most up-to-date information. In this case, you just need the content to be readily available as and when you need it.

5. DIY, Off-the-Shelf, or Turn-Key?

There are three different types of digital signage systems, and the one you choose will depend on your budget and the needs of your visitors. All three options have pros and cons, so it’s worth running through each of them to figure out which one will be the best fit for you.

EventIgnite is a turn-key system which we have found is the ideal option for the majority of events.

6. Cost of Power and Internet Connection

This is one of those annoying extras that has to be budgeted for, but it’s actually really easy to find out about the internet connection you’ll have and how much it’ll cost by speaking to your Operations Manager.

Of course, power and cost will vary from venue to venue, but if you want to find out more about all the costs involved in setting up a digital signage system, check out this guide here: What Is the Cost of Digital Signage?

7. A Reliable A/V Supplier

This is one of the most important things to consider, especially if you’re planning on going the DIY or Off-the-Shelf route.

If you don’t have a reliable and creative A/V partner, the digital signage system will be at risk – events can be unpredictable, and having a trusted A/V partner on-site means you can solve any problems that crop up right away.

This is one of the key reasons we designed EventIgnite as a Turn-key system that is monitored remotely by our team. It means that any issues can be addressed immediately, but we also work with the A/V supplier in case any hardware issues (like power or internet outages) occur.

Now you know the major things you need to consider before you invest in digital signage for your event, you can better prepare yourself for a system that’s suitable for your event and helps your visitors thrive.

By Thomas Walczak

I am the Founder and Managing Director of EventIgnite, a technology company dedicated to creating an effortless experience at events.
EventIgnite develops professional digital signage systems, including interactive and large-format digital signs.
Don't hesitate to send me an email at thomas@eventignite.com